Inside AJC

3/6/18 - Atlanta - Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, surrounded by supporters, addresses the media after he qualified to run for governor this afternoon. Qualifying for Georgia's 2018 elections began Monday and runs through Friday. Georgia has races for Governor, Lieutenant Governor and other statewide posts, and every congressional seat nationwide is up for a vote in November. BOB ANDRES /BANDRES@AJC.COM Photo: Bob Andres/bandres@ajc.com

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle has a commanding lead over his Republican rivals in the race for governor, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Channel 2 Action News poll released Friday that showed an unsettled race for the No. 2 spot.

Cagle notched 41 percent of the vote among likely Republican voters, giving him an edge over his rivals but not enough support yet to avoid a July runoff. He’s followed by two candidates who hope to keep him under the 50-percent threshold: Secretary of State Brian Kemp notched 10 percent and ex-state Sen. Hunter Hill had 9 percent.

Two other candidates trailed the field. Executive Clay Tippins had about 4 percent of support, and state Sen. Michael Williams logged 3 percent.

But the poll showed there’s room to maneuver in the final weeks ahead of the May 22 vote. Roughly one-third of GOP primary voters are undecided — and some 40 percent of women still haven’t picked a candidate.

The poll shows the GOP race is more settled than the Democratic one. An AJC/Channel 2 survey released last week showed Stacey Abrams leading Stacey Evans 33 percent to 15 percent — with more than half of likely Democratic voters undecided.